Hluhluwe-Umfolozi safari drive: Elephants!

Grand safaris at Zulu Nyala and Hluhluwe-Umfolozi

Our first major journey out of Cape Town!

We were fortunate enough to receive a great gift from our friend Pete Johnson. Pete is a realtor and bicyclist in Anchorage, Alaska, and won a safari as a prize. He did not see himself coming to this part of the world soon enough, so he very kindly gave it to us. Thanks Pete for a wonderful treat!

With Pete’s winnings, Jenne, Chris, and Lisa spent 4 days and 3 nights at Zulu Nyala. The Zulu Nyala Heritage Tented Safari Camp is in a game park about 3 hours north of Durban, by car. We flew to Durban and drove up in a rental car. The drive was easy and fun. Before we drove up, we loaded up on South African wines we wanted to try, which made our evenings really fun. We drove quickly on the big highway, and arrived in time for an afternoon game drive. We threw our stuff in our deluxe tents (with steam showers, jetted tubs, lounge, king size beds, and canvas walls so we could hear the wildlife around us) and jumped in the Rover.

Our guide was named Sandile, and for our entire time there, he was our go-to guy. We had others in our Rover, sometimes as many as 6 others, but Sandile always made us feel like we came first. Everyday, he would take us on 2 long drives. Zulu Nyala is a relatively small park, although many many acres, in comparison to other parks.

They have 3 of the Big 5. The Big 5 (elephants, buffalo, rhino, lion & leopard) were named that by hunters, as these are the 5 animals that are difficult to hunt because they fight back. We saw elephants, buffalo and rhino at Zulu Nyala. We also saw zebra, giraffes, wildebeest, warthogs, nyala (deer like), kudo, and impala. We also saw tons of amazing birds, like Egyptian Geese, and the most dangerous animal out there, hippo. A mother hippopotamus protecting her young is considered the most dangerous animal in the bush, although many of the hippos we saw were taking it easy, lazing in the water on a hot afternoon. We also saw hippos walking around on land in the daytime, which is pretty rare. We saw so much game, some just eating right in front of our tent. There were zebra right in front of our door, it was incredible. Every evening, the three of us would sit out on our porch, sometimes with new friends we had met in the day, sometimes on our own, just looking up at the South sky, and listening to the birds and animals.

Then, on our own, we drove to a nearby game park, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi. This park was much bigger, and much less controlled. It is the birth place of the nationwide program to save rhinoceros, and we saw so many there. We did not see lions, although we think we just missed them. As we were waiting at the top of the dry riverbed to see them, 2 beautiful white rhinos walked up behind us, and we got a photo of Chris right in front of them. We were also surrounded by a huge family of elephants in our little rental car. Chris, the driver, kept his cool, and Jenne and Lisa snapped mad photos and video. It was so exciting.

Our guide at Zulu Nyala, Sandile

Water buffalo patriarch

On the Land Rover

Lone warthog

Wild animal

Right outside of our room

Right outside of our room 2

Bird nests at Zulu Nyala

Galloping away

Galloping away 2

White rhino couple

Hippo stare down

Chris and friends taking a stroll

All in all, our trip was tops. The lodge at Zulu Nyala was very nice. We definitely recommend the tent camps, it was so romantic and beautiful. Everyday we had breakfast munch and dinner, as well as many opportunities for cultural experiences. Zulu Nyala is in KwaZulu-Natal, which home to the Zulu people. The art and culture was beautiful and rich. The last night the lodge threw a big party at the boma (outdoor barbecue and party area) where dancers and musicians from the area came to entertain us. They were wonderful. The people were very nice, and we had a great time. It’s a beautiful area of the world, and there’s a lot more for us to explore up there, so we’ll definitely be back. Who knows, it was quite a lifestyle, maybe in a few years we’ll be living in the bush, looking up at those stars every night.

This video was shot in Zulu Nyala. We will have more videos from the other game park in the next posts.